Three Companies Get Homeowners Rate Hikes in La.

The Louisiana Insurance Rating Commission has approved rate increases of less than 19 percent for three homeowner insurance companies.

The largest of the increases, an 18.7 percent increase for 13,461 policyholders, went to the Auto Club Family Insurance Co., better known as AAA.

The 11,368 holders of policies with Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Co. will see increases of 15 percent starting on Sept. 27. The 1,762 homeowners who get their insurance through the Employers Mutual Casualty Co. also will see a 15 percent increase in their bills starting July 15.

But the commission ordered the state’s second largest residential insurer, Allstate Insurance Co., to come back next month with adjustments to its proposed condominium rate filing.

Commission member Jabari Ragas also asked the company to return in June to address some second thoughts he’s got on the homeowners rate hikes Allstate got approved in April.

“The main issues for me are financial. I want to make sure we’re doing the right thing here,” he said.

Last month, the commission approved rate hikes for Allstate that could boost rates by as much as 52 percent for homeowners in some parts of the New Orleans area. On May 16, Allstate proposed raising rates on its 2,423 condominium policyholders by 47.2 percent, plus a 9.1 percent increase for reinsurance.

The company said that the condo rate increase would be consistently applied throughout the state, rather than varying by region, but that the costs of reinsurance, or insurance for insurance companies, would vary with exposure to hurricane risk.

Condominiums are a growing area of business for Allstate, and that the company has not raised condo insurance rates since 2002, said Steven Armstrong, senior actuary for product pricing for Allstate.

Information from: The Times-Picayune, www.timespicayune.com.